Best Places to Work 2010: Senior leaders vs. middle managers

By
Ed O'Keefe

As we continue our daylong look at the 2010 "Best Places to Work in the Federal Government" survey, The Washington Post's On Leadership team is asking its panel of experts about one of the survey's key findings: that worker satisfaction is more profoundly affected by perceptions of top management than by their immediate supervisor. What lessons can top leaders in the public and private sector glean from this?

"If you're a top leader, you need to understand that your words and your behavior set the tone, the culture, and the values within your organization," says panelist Yash Gupta. "If you seem distant and detached, the organization will take on the aura of a rudderless ship."